The Student Room Group

Qualifications

Hello,

I'm thinking about going back to school to get a BA degree in Criminology after 10 years from my high school diploma. I do meet the normal entry requirements and grades but honestly it's been a long time and I am pretty sure I became rusty in the subjects I've studied before. However I've been working as secretary in a law studio for the past 7 years oversea.

Anyone of you who decided to go back to school after so long, what did you do? did you need to pass some kind of examination in the chosen university or they basically considered only your working experience?
Reply 1
UK universities will usually ask for some kind of recent study evidence, so you may be asked to do a one year Access course in advance of your degree. Mature entry requirements aren't publicised by unis and they generally aren't the same as the ones for school leavers, so the only way to find out is to email the Admissions Office of a few, telling them your background and the degree you're interested in.

Even if you meet the published requirements with older qualifications, you may still need to do more if your last academic study was some years ago.

It may not be a consideration if you can already afford it, but the basic requirement for UK Student Finance funding is that you must have been resident in the UK for three years before the start of your degree. As you've been overseas for seven years, you wouldn't qualify until you'd been back in the UK for three years.
Thank you Klix88, I will do some research on Access courses.

I already wrote to my interested universities but they take time to answer, especially now with all the clearing applications. I was told to wait around 10 days to get a proper reply.

I didn't know that, thanks for pointing that out for me :smile: I may be eligible to apply to some kind of oversea funding since I am not british, but still european.

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